The Torah became flesh (Yeshua) and dwelt among us!

Matthew

“There were, however, many speculations in the 2nd century about the date of Christ’s birth. Clement of Alexandria, towards its close, mentions several such, and condemns them as superstitions.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, entry for Christmas)

“Lupi has shown that there is no month in the year to which respectable authorities have not assigned Christ’s birth.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, entry for Christmas)

“As late as 245 Origen, in his eighth homily on Leviticus, repudiates as sinful the very idea of keeping the birthday of Christ ‘as if he were a king Pharaoh.’” (Encyclopedia Britannica, entry for Christmas)

And according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Origen said, “of all the holy people in the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world below” (Catholic Encyclopedia, entry for Natal Day)

“No evidence remains about the exact date of the birth of Christ. The December 25 date was chosen as much for practical reasons as for theological ones. Throughout the Roman Empire, various festivals were held in conjunction with the winter solstice. In Rome, the Feast of the Unconquerable Sun celebrated the beginning of the return of the sun. When Christianity became the religion of the Empire, the church either had to suppress the festivals or transform them. The winter solstice seemed an appropriate time to celebrate Christ’s birth. Thus, the festival of the sun became a festival of the Son” (Holman Bible Dictionary, entry for Christmas)

“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas. First because we do not believe in any mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be sung in Latin or in English: Secondly, because we find no scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Savior’s birth, although there in no possibility of discovering when it occurred. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the birth of our Lord; and it was not till long after the western Church had set the example, that the eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known. Probably the fact is that the “holy” days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. We venture to assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which our Savior was born it is the 25th of December. Regarding not the day, let us give God thanks for the gift of His dear Son.” —C. H. Spurgeon Dec. 24, 1871 (Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, p. 697)

Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology by Jeffrey Niehaus
Essential Papers on Israel and the Ancient Near East (article by Moshe Weinfeld)
Treaty of the Great King by Meredith Kline
Ancient Near Eastern Texts: by Pritchard

Electronic Bible Study:

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The following is Brad Scott’s response to the International Alliance Of Messianic Congregations And Synagogues (Iamcs) One Law, Two Sticks Position Paper:

“…[T]here comes a time when something comes along that is so self serving and so incredibly repugnant that I have to speak my mind. I am speaking of the publication of another missionary position paper on how wrong and unbiblical everyone but the authors of the paper are. I am speaking of the recent long article put out by the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues or IAMCS. It is an article entitled: “One Law, Two Sticks: A Critical Look at the Hebrew Roots Movement.” The whole world has been waiting on pins and needles for these guys to finally solve the problem with this heretical bunch of Jewish wannabes. It is a very long article because it takes some time to impugn and slander a dozen or so brothers without coming to them personally. I am only going to address the first two paragraphs of this unsubstantiated diatribe.

I wish to begin with a disclaimer. These are only a few frustrated men that do not represent the whole of Messianic Judaism. Most leaders and members of Messianic Jewish synagogues and congregations that I have fellowshipped with are warm, loving people who just want to worship and please the God of Israel just as we do. But my friends, every time I hear this kind of rhetoric and sandbox baby talk I cannot help but think of the proverbial race card. Every word in this paper is pure racism, disguised as “Oh those poor Gentiles they want to be like us, oh God bless em.” It appears that it is okay to work on the plantation, boys, but ya gotta use the commode out yonder! Although the commandments of God are designed to bless us when we keep them, ‘you boys’ are on the wrong side of the tracks, the blessing are for us. Now and then these men attempt to feign brotherhood, but it is all condescending.

With that in mind, I have chosen to place the actual first two paragraphs from the paper first. Below that I have rendered my satirical translation that came easy to me as I struggled to read this thing. The words Jews and Jewish are replaced with white men. The Gentiles or non-Jews are replaced with Negroes and the law is the public bathrooms.

We, as Messianic Jewish leaders, have become increasingly concerned that there are a growing number of individuals and groups today promoting the idea that all the world’s believers in the Messiah – Jewish and Gentile alike – ought to be keeping the Torah,particularly the Shabbat, the feasts, and kosher diet. The doctrine which is the subject of this paper has been around since the day of the Apostles, in different forms, but today it has come to be known as “One Law One People” or just “One Law,” for short. It insists upon Gentile Torah observance universally. Most of those who teach it, also promote false theories about Israel identity as well. Recently, some of the more prominent One Law teachers have banded together and begun using the label “Hebrew Roots” to describe themselves as a movement. This nomenclature is regrettable from our point of view, since it causes confusion.

Obviously, the roots of the biblical faith are Jewish. Thankfully, many non-Jewish believers worldwide recognize the fact that their faith is rooted in a Jewish Messiah,Jewish Apostles, and a Jewish gospel. We note that many precious, well-meaning Gentile believers are drawn to Messianic Judaism because they wish to connect with Israel; they want to understand the Bible in historical context, or they simply have a desire to enrich their faith by acquiring a more Jewish understanding of the Lord.

Here is what I believe is really happening.

We, as leaders of the superior race, have become increasingly concerned that there are a growing number of individuals and groups today actually promoting the idea that all the world’s believers in the white Messiah – white and negro alike – ought to be using the same public bathrooms, particularly the sinks, the toilet stools and the soap dispenser. This kind of teaching, which is the subject of this paper, has been around since the days of the early Klansmen, in different forms, but today it has come to be known as ‘One People, One Bathroom’ or just plain ‘One Bathroom’ theology. These here people insist on negro public bathroom usage with the white man, universally. Did ya ever imagine such a thing? Most of the people who stand up for this abominable practice also promote false theories about white identity as well. Recently, some of the more prominent ‘One Bathroom’ teachers have banded together to sing the ole negro spiritual, ‘We shall overcome’, and they describe themselves as abolitionists. What in the world is that? This nonmanclatur, nomnanclayture, uh, numanclatetre, this word is regrettable from our point of view, since it suggests that the white man and the negro are one. Can ya imagine that?Obviously, the roots of public bathroom usage are white and belong to the white man. Thankfully however, there are many Negroes in the world that recognize the fact that their beliefs are rooted in a white Messiah, white apostles, and a white man’s gospel. We note that there are many precious, well-meaning Negroes out there that are drawn to the white man’s lifestyle because they wish to connect to the superior race of the white man and they want to understand the white man in his historical context, or they simply have a desire to enrich their lower class lives by acquiring a more white man’s understanding of God. Isn’t that precious, God bless ’em.

I speak to the men who felt the need to attempt to divide us all again by putting out this racist dribble: our behavior and desire to please our Father based on our ethnicity. I see it as nothing more than that. I suggest you publicly apologize, particularly to the men you spent a considerable amount of time trashing, and put your efforts into mercy and reconciliation. I suggest you focus more on the fruit of the Spirit. If there was ever a time in the history of mankind that brothers, who all love the Messiah and the God of Israel, should cling to each other it is NOW, it is this generation. Stop it, stop it, stop it.”

Warning! The following author of the video below does not believe in Yahushua (Jesus) BUT does a great job at proving how the original Hebrews were not white. Therefore, Torahis4Today does not support the end of this video where the author states that Judaism and not Yahushua is the Way.

Warning! The following author of the video below does not believe in Yahushua BUT does a great job at proving how the original Hebrews were not Black. Therefore, Torahis4Today does not support the end of this video where the author states that Judaism and not Yahushua is the Way.

“The ISR Scriptures is a good version. And yes, it has done a great job with restoring the Names of our Creator, His Son, and most others found in the Scriptures. It has amended the English text to conform to a more Hebraic writing style, which is always nice. It also handles translated words and phrases better than most English Bibles out there. However, there are some notable differences. Primarily the differences being the base. The ISR Scriptures is essentially an extensive revision of the KJV. It retains some British English word order and spelling, and has a similar flow to the NKJV. It claims to use Kittel’s Biblia Hebraica as the source for the Tanakh (OT) and the Textus Receptus as the source for the NT. This is the major point of diversion. The largest disagreement [for some is] with this translation is its arbitrary use of source texts.

We say arbitrary because when a translation is being made, a source texts must be selected. ISR chose to use the Textus Receptus. They did this because, as they state in the Preface of the ISR Scriptures, “As a modus operandi then, we have started out using the Textus Receptus, modifying our rendering as seemed appropriate in light of those other texts which we consulted, such as the Nestle-Aland text and the Shem Tob text, noting certain differences in the footnotes, where necessary.” [emphasis added]

The major issue here is that these texts are not consistent on a Text-Critical level, nor are they consistent on a historical level. What the statement above essentially means is that readings were cherry picked from different source texts. Why would they do this? And at what point would they choose one reading over another? This shows that bias and personally-held theology drove the selection, and therefore influenced the translation. This is not consistent. They have created an eclectic text, with readings chosen from here and there. This is not uncommon, as the NIV translators did the same. However, one must wonder what lead the translators of ISR to choose one reading over another. If you are familiar with the translator and/or the organization, then you may already know the biases held by those individuals. And if you do, you can clearly see WHY these different readings were selected.

Another alarming fact about the ISR Scriptures is that, for the book of Matthew, they diverged yet again from both the Textus Receptus AND the Nestle-Aland, in that they translated it from the Hebrew Shem Tob Matthew. This book has been proven, rather easily and numerous times, to be a late translation of the Gospel of Matthew, made from Greek and Latin sources. In fact, contained within the publication which was published alongside the Shem Tob Matthew is an appendix which lists numerous objections to ישוע being the Messiah. Yet again we found it strikingly odd that ISR would diverge so far from their otherwise textually consistent translation. Even in this, ISR has not been completely faithful in their translation in sticking with their source texts when it comes to the New Testament” (http://literalenglishversion.weebly.com/faq.html).

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The Church has, for two millennia, cut themselves off from their roots. The Church has, instead, planted their own tree. This new and different tree has rejected YHWH's: Torah, Shabbat, dietary laws, feasts and even His name ... Yahweh/YHWH!
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